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18 business focus


Investment readiness – will your plan stand up


to investor scrutiny? Business growth requires investment and high growth requires external investment. But how can you be sure that your business is investment ready?


Seeking funding for growth is a challenge for any ambitious business, but there are key elements that must be in place before approaching an investor, in particular preparing a strong business plan with substantial financial projections. You must have a clear definition of what the money is for, how you’ll repay it or give investors the return they seek and fully understand what investors need from you to be sure you are ‘investment ready’.


Martin Hunt of Videregen and i4i Funding Scheme, invests in research funding in life sciences and spoke at the Leadership for Growth Summit 2015: “In selecting where to invest, we put a heavy emphasis on the project team, the quality of the business plan, deliverability, de-risking technology and crucially on investor readiness. We ask key questions – Will it be possible to launch the product in the target market? Will there be a return? Is the team going to deliver? Far too often the team is naïve, with unrealistic ideas or a rudimentary understanding of business.


“Since 2010 we have invested around £71 million and have 102 active projects in the portfolio which must continue to develop. VitalSix has been instrumental in developing a High Growth Accelerator programme specifically for the life sciences which has helped to ensure that these businesses continue to grow and develop. The programme includes a four day ‘boot camp’ and covers all aspects of a successful business plan and application for funding from i4i. The course delivers in-depth learning from presenters with track records in building successful businesses and, with excellent feedback from attendees, the programme is evolving for other audiences.”


Ed Cooper of VitalSix added: “The Thames Valley is the best region to start and develop a high-growth business, with world-class global corporates and world-class talent. Henley Business School and the University of Reading are leading educational organisations plus


www.businessmag.co.uk Martin Hunt


there is easy access to London and Heathrow and a network of funds available to the right businesses.


“The process that businesses must adopt to successfully secure funding includes establishing credibility, preparing a thorough business plan with supporting evidence, presenting the plan clearly and succinctly and being ready for detailed scrutiny. The clarity of the vision and mission must come through, all aspects of the plan from marketing and sales to business strategy must be aligned and focused and the leadership and board must have credibility. In addition there must be a financial return with realistic evidence.”


Cooper described the support delivered by VitalSix to help businesses navigate through the investment process. “We have helped 150 companies secure over £220m in over 200 separate deals. We have a pipeline of 14 companies seeking £5.5m of equity. Working with us, businesses can be assured of long- term relationships, a commitment to those we work with and an understanding of the complexity and difficulty of building a growing SME.”


Contact VitalSix now to review your growth and investment plans.


Details: www.vitalsix.co.uk 0118-9357369 info@vitalsix.co.uk


Strategic workforce planning


As I have written and spoken extensively on the topic of strategic workforce planning (SWP) in the past, I wanted to find a new angle, writes Professor Nick Kemsley, co-director, Henley Centre for HR Excellence


So I’m not going to talk about the importance of understanding the people and organisational risks relating to business strategy, the benefits for HR prioritisation and alignment or, indeed, the capability challenges that it exposes. Instead, I am going to focus on the role that SWP plays in breaking down barriers and forming more influential relationships with CEOs, CFOs and other key players.


Thinking about SWP keeps CEOs awake at night. They need to build confidence in their organisation’s ability to deliver future value and demonstrate a credible plan – not just a wishy-washy aspirational dream. A solid understanding of the how of strategy drives indicators such as the price-earnings ratio, which for listed organisations is key to gaining investment.


External stakeholders understand that people and organisational issues drive a good proportion of the ‘intangible’ value in a business. And although CEOs are fully aware that talent and organisational effectiveness are pivotal to strategic execution, few have a detailed understanding of what this means in practice, where the greatest risks are, or the most effective strategy to address them.


To my mind, an SWP is a fundamental output of an HR director/chief HR officer role. It should form the basis


of a proactive and influential discussion around the development and enablement of strategy – instead of a reactive and passive ‘receiving’ of strategy. It engages a CEO in a language they are familiar with: that of growth, efficiency and risk. More to the point, it performs a vital service that isn’t available elsewhere.


So engaging your CEO and board in a proper SWP discussion can enhance your involvement and credibility, and that of the HR function as a whole. Furthermore, it creates a platform for a more insightful and value-adding relationship that benefits all parties, and can enable a more focused and constructive discussion around investment in people and organisational development.


Details: Diana Richards 01491-418767 exec@henley.ac.uk www.henley.ac.uk/swp


Follow us on twitter: @HenleyExecEd


THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – THAMES VALLEY – FEBRUARY 2016


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